New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Cornel Bell has been arrested in Florida for the August, 2017 murder of a Weymouth mother, Michelle Clarke, Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey announced.
“Massachusetts State Police, both in the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and the homicide detectives in the DA’s office, have been working tirelessly on finding Mr. Bell and bringing him into custody,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “VFAS has been working closely with the United States Marshal Service, identifying and following any trace of his whereabouts. Today that paid off.”
Bell was indicted in October 2017 on a charge that he killed Clarke in her apartment. “We released the model and registration of a dark blue pickup truck he was believed to be driving, and that vehicle was eventually located abandoned in the Miami area,” DA Morrissey said. “Florida has been a focus of our investigation and search, but has it has included other areas as well.”
Information developed recently by law enforcement led US Marshals to a construction site in Dania Beach, Fla., this morning, Morrissey said. “They confronted him and he was taken into custody following a brief pursuit.”
Norfolk County prosecutors and State Police will be working with Florida officials to arrange Bell’s return to Massachusetts for arraignment in Norfolk Superior Court. The timing of that will be announced when it is known.
“Weymouth Police have been excellent partners in this homicide investigation,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “It is also true that the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section of the State Police has been dogged in their work on this case, and their coordination with us and their good working relationship with the Marshals made this apprehension, far from Massachusetts, possible. I understand that the Broward County Sheriff’s department, Ft. Lauderdale Police, and Coral Springs Police Department assisted as well.”
Morrissey said the homicide prosecution has been assigned to Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Hely.
